What is a Queensland body corporate CMS – Community Management Statement

Queensland body corporate Community Management Statement

All bodies corporate in Queensland that are regulated by the BCCM Act must have a Community Management Statement (CMS).  A body corporate is a legal entity created when land is subdivided and registered under the Land Title Act to establish a Community Titles Scheme (CTS) and the associated Community Management Statement.  Every owner of a lot in a Community Titles Scheme is a member of the body corporate.  Owners do not have a choice as to whether or not they will be a body corporate member.

What does a Community Management Statement (CMS) contain

The most important elements are –

  • Identification of the BCCM regulation module that governs the body corporate
  • By-laws of the body corporate
  • Titles and lots that comprise the body corporate
  • Lot entitlements including interest and contribution schedules
  • Exclusive use allocations
How is the first CMS created?

A very short explanation of the process is as follows for a typical residential body corporate development –

  • A Developer purchases one or more allotments of land.
  • A Developer submits a development application to local council showing the intended lot subdivision and associated survey plans.
  • Development proceeds once council approval is received.
  • Once development is completed, a Community Management Statement is prepared for approval and submitted to council with final survey plans for sealing.
  • The notarised Community Management Statement is submitted to the Titles Office together with the survey plans and the existing titles to be relinquished.
  • The Titles Office approves the CMS and issues the new titles for the identfied lots.
How to confirm if your lot is in a body corporate regulated by the BCCM Act

Take a look at the certificate of title for your lot.  You would have got it during the buying process but if it can not be found, you can buy a copy from the government website.  About half way down the certificate, under the heading ESTATE AND LAND, the Community Management Statement number will be listed.  If there is no such statement, then your lot does not form part of a community title scheme that is regulated by the BCCM Act.  Have a look at this example title certificate for a lot in a BCCM scheme.

Operating under an incorrect regulation module

It is very common to discover bodies corporate that are operating under the wrong regulation module.  The most common case is a body corporate that has 6 or less lots that is operating under the small schemes regulation.  It may be that the body corporate should be operating under the standard regulation.  When the small schemes regulation was introduced, existing bodies corporate (with 6 lots or less) were not automatically converted from the standard to the small schemes regulation.  A body corporate must specifically choose to change.  If the current CMS is lost, bodies corporate or body corporate managers often assume that the body corporate (with 6 lots or less) is operating under the module with the least compliance (small schemes).  This is a bad assumption and can lead to issues when body corporate matters get complicated.

Our Community Management Statement (CMS) is lost

A copy of the most current CMS can be obtained by undertaking a Titles Office search.  
Alternatively, we can recover your lost CMS for you.  You can order it from this link – Recover lost CMS.  The CMS will be emailed within one business day after receipt of payment for your order.

How to amend your Community Management Statement (CMS)

The most common reason for a body corporate to want to amend a CMS would be for a change of regulation module or to modify the existing by-laws.  In either case, the body corporate will firstly need to approve a special motion that approves the change/s.  Once successful, the committee (or body corporate manager) can submit a new CMS to the Titles office.  The changes will take effect from the date the request for the new CMS is recorded by the Titles Office.  For any other reason, a change to the CMS will require a resolution without dissent motion.

Tracsafe can help

Tracsafe can help with preparing your new CMS.  
You can purchase our CMS update service by clicking through on this link.